Belarus Seeks Compensation to Release Uralkali Chief

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Belarus should be compensated if it
releases the head of Russian potash producer OAO Uralkali from
house arrest and allows him to return home, President Aleksandr
Lukashenko said today.

Lukashenko is seeking payment in return for any decision to
hand over Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Baumgertner,
Belarusian state newswire Belta reported, citing a briefing for
media. The alleged damages borne by Belarus weren’t specified.

Baumgertner, 41, has been under arrest in a Minsk apartment
for a month, having been released from a Belarusian KGB jail in
September. He was first detained Aug. 26 after withdrawing his
company from a trading venture with Belarusian potash supplier
Belaruskali, and was accused of abuse of office.

Russia opened a case against Baumgertner this month after
Lukashenko demanded criminal charges as a condition of his
transfer to Russia. A Moscow court arrested the CEO in absentia,
Interfax said today, citing court spokeswoman Nataliya Romanova.
Alexey Basistov, Baumgertner’s lawyer, declined to comment.

Uralkali, the world’s biggest potash producer, quit the
trading venture at the end of July, saying its Belarusian
partner had sold cargoes outside their marketing agreement,
which accounted for 40 percent of global exports. The decision
sent the $20 billion market into a tailspin, dragging down
producers’ shares and depressing prices of the crop nutrient.

Criminal Probe

Belarus also has opened a criminal investigation into other
Uralkali employees and its main shareholder Suleiman Kerimov,
accusing them along with Baumgertner of a scheme to cut
Belaruskali out of decision-making at their venture and causing
$100 million of damages.

Uralkali, based in Berezniki in Russia’s Perm region, has
maintained Baumgertner’s innocence and called for his release.

Kerimov, who shares a 33 percent stake in Uralkali with two
partners, has received offers to sell his holding, including
from fellow billionaires Mikhail Prokhorov, Mikhail Gutseriev
and Vladimir Evtushenkov and former banker Vladimir Kogan,
people with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Lukashenko called for Gutseriev to buy Kerimov’s stake,
Interfax said today, citing the president. Lukashenko said he
doesn’t know Prokhorov or Kogan, or what businesses they run,
according to the news service.